


Confined

by RadarsTeddyBear



Series: Ducktober 2018 [3]
Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Episode: s01e23 The Shadow War!, Family, Fictober, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic, Whump, prompt: jail cell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-04
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-07-24 21:38:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16183676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadarsTeddyBear/pseuds/RadarsTeddyBear
Summary: Lena's trapped again in the shadow realm.  A retelling of "The Shadow War!" through Lena's limited point of view.





	Confined

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: ["Jail Cell"](http://radarsteddybear.tumblr.com/post/169006603389/whumpreads-i-dont-draw-but-ive-been-thinking).

_“Help me get my family back, and you’ll have a place in it.”_

The words echoed in Lena’s head, swirling through the thick haze that separated the shadow realm from the corporeal one.  They were meaningless now.

Lena watched through a gauzy curtain as Magica wreaked havoc over Duckburg.  It was as if she were half asleep--it didn’t even feel real. She kept having to remind herself that it was, and even then she couldn’t muster up the strength or willpower to try to do anything about it.

Not that she could have.  She was just a shadow.

Sure, Magica had been able to do things from her prison.  She’d been able to talk to Lena, stretch herself into grotesque shapes to illustrate her thoughts and ideas, even do the odd bit of magic, especially at the end.  But Magica was a sorceress with decades of experience. Lena was just a shadow with fifteen short years of occasional practice using a magical talisman that she no longer had access to.

She hadn’t even been able to save Mr. McDuck from getting sucked into the dime.

So much of this was her fault.  If she hadn’t listened to Magica.  If she hadn’t befriended Webby. If she hadn’t kept sleeping over in Scrooge’s giant mansion.  If she hadn’t kept Magica a secret. If she hadn’t allowed Magica to possess her. If, if, if. Well, she had.  There was no changing that now.

_“Help me get my family back, and you’ll have a place in it.”_

Even if she did get out of the shadow realm, would there still be a place for her in Mr. McDuck’s family?  She’d just be a constant reminder of Magica, of all this pain and suffering and destruction. Lena certainly wouldn’t want herself around.  Her memories, the knowledge of what happened, what she _did_ \--that was more than enough.

“Is this your favorite treasure?  Oh, too bad. Now it’s ice cream.”  Magica’s voice cut through the fog, though it still sounded far away.  The glee in her voice made Lena feel almost queasy. Well, as queasy as a shadow could be.  

“Oh, looks like your family’s coming to play.”

 _Webby_.

With a surge of anger-fueled strength, Lena rebelled, slamming herself against the walls of her jail cell.  But nothing budged.

It she had still been in the corporeal world, she would be panting heavily, catching her breath.  But though shadows didn’t need to breathe, she felt weak and drained, almost like she had just sprinted across McDuck Manor.

Above her, Magica was yelling out sports terms and throwing bolts of magical energy this way and that.  All Lena could do was hope, hope, _hope_ that nobody was getting hurt.

_“Help me get my family back, and you’ll have a place in it.”_

Was that really a promise that Mr. McDuck could keep?  Sure, he was the oldest member of the family--by far--but he didn’t exactly seem to have a good history of agreeing with his relatives.  Would _they_ have accepted her into their family?  Lena knew she could count on Webby--or at least, until Webby learned the truth about who Lena was--but Webby wasn’t even related to the old man.  The triplets could easily be persuaded, probably, especially with Mr. McDuck and Webby on her side, but Donald? The guy who had cut ties with Scrooge McDuck and all of his money for ten years?  

Doubtful.

“Oh, look.”  Magica’s voice sliced into her thoughts.  “ _Children._ ”

No.

No, no, no.

A pink energy bubble, Magica’s favorite form of transportation when she wasn’t stuck being a shadow, faded from Lena’s view as the light coming off of it blotted her out of existence.  Lena was gone only a minute before the magical sphere disappeared, leaving her right underneath her aunt and with a very poor view of what was going on. As she got her bearings, she could faintly hear banter between Magica and one of the kids.  Definitely not Webby, but which triplet, she couldn’t tell.

And then Magica started firing bolts of magic again.

Panic blossomed in Lena’s chest, pressing down harder and harder until Lena felt she would drown without a gulp of air, regardless of the fact that shadows didn’t breathe.  

Ok.  Lena had to get it together.  If she could focus hard enough, maybe she could manage to do something.

But focusing was awfully hard when your friends were probably _dying_ all around you.

Lena knew Magica’s power.  What if she made then all her slaves?  What if she turned them all into shadows?  What if she turned them to stone, or snakes, or frogs, or--

The sound of breaking glass broke through Lena’s thoughts.

What if she turned them to glass and then _shattered_ them?

What if Magica didn’t bother turning them into anything and just hurt them instead?  Magic was very hot; Lena felt phantom pains tingle through phantom hands at the memory.   What if she sliced through their limbs? What if she buried them in coins? What if she flung them through the air into the walls or the ocean or each other--

“Hi-yah!”

That was Webby’s voice.  Lena felt a small measure of relief trickle through her consciousness.  

“Ooh, someone’s mad,” Magica said.  Lena strained her ears, pouring all of her focus into hearing what was going on.

“I just got a family.  I thought I had a best friend in Lena.  But you took that all away. You are not. A. Nice. Person!”

Well, that was the understatement of the century.

The corporeal world began to fade away as Magica created another bubble, this time as a shield.  And then everything whited out entirely when Magica encased herself in an aura of magic.

But Lena still heard the sickening thud of Magica’s staff making contact with Webby’s small body, and the jingle of gold coins as she slid through them.

“Lena couldn’t be your friend because she was never real!” Magica said, sadistic delight dripping from her words.  Lena wanted to scream, to cry, to break free of the bonds that held her to the shadow realm. _She was real._  She had _always_ been real.  And she was _still_ real.  She may have been stuck in the prison that was the shadow realm, but she was _still there._

“I don’t believe you,” she faintly heard Webby say.

Another yell and a thud, softer this time, definitely one of the boys.

“You had sleepovers with a shadow.  You gave it a friendship bracelet. Honestly, it’s embarrassing how pathetic you were.  Here, let me put you out of your misery!”

 _No!_  The word was so loud in her head that Lena could have sworn she had said it out loud.  The panic that had been consuming her evaporated, and she felt magic--a different magic, a familiar magic--start to reach her form.  She poured all of her energy, all of her power, all of her friendship into it, shielding Webby from Magica’s dark powers.

Suddenly, it was as if the walls confining her to the shadow realm had split open.  Lena reached out and grabbed Magica’s shadow, giving herself a form. Aunt Magica gasped as she saw Lena floating next to her.

“Get away from my best friend, Aunt Magica!” Lena shouted, lunging at the woman she’d been tethered to for the last fifteen years.  She tackled her, grabbing for the staff to rid her of her power.

“‘Aunt?’  You’re even worse than her!  You aren’t my family! You are nothing!”  Magica stabbed her staff into Lena’s stomach and discharged her magic.  Lena screamed as she felt herself evaporate into thin air, dimly aware of Webby yelling right alongside her.

 

* * *

 

“Lena’s...gone.”

The words were distant again, but not because they were being filtered through the haze of the shadow realm.

“But...she sacrificed herself.  To save you,” she heard Huey say.

“Huh.  I guess she really was my best friend.”

Lena felt herself smile.

“She’ll always be with you,” Dewey said, and Lena could feel the warmth and love of a group hug.

Lena watched as Webby tied the friendship bracelet back onto her wrist.  The blue kid was right. It wasn’t ideal--she’d much rather go back to being a person again--but it was infinitely better than being trapped in the jail cell that was being Magica De Spell’s shadow.

Besides, this was one way to join Scrooge McDuck’s family.

**Author's Note:**

> Please review!


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